Here & Now

Republicans and Democrats Differ on COVID Spending

Frederica Freyberg:

Republican majorities in both houses of the state Legislature passed a number of bills this week, including changes to state election procedures. The hottest debate came with bills related to how to spend a large part of the over $3 billion federal COVID relief stimulus money. One plan directs 10% of their last property tax bill to property owners. That would account for just over $1 billion of the federal COVID aid to the state. Republicans approved a plan that would allow $500 million of the feds relief money to pay off state debt, $310 million to shore up the state’s unemployment fund, over $308 million for bridges and road repair and $68 million for communications upgrades and a mental health center in northern Wisconsin. Democrats say using the federal relief funds in those ways is not allowed based on federal guidelines and as interpreted by the non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau. What’s more, the bills may have the word “veto” written all over them. Governor Tony Evers says legislative oversight would only slow down the release of the money.

Tony Evers:

I can’t imagine having the Joint Finance Committee being in charge of that, where one senator could raise his hand and — his or her hand and say, sorry, I don’t like that. Where do you go? You do nothing.

Frederica Freyberg:

Governor Tony Evers speaking in La Crosse on Thursday.

Earlier, I spoke with Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu. Why do you want the Legislature to control how $2.7 billion of the federal COVID stimulus is spent?

Devin LeMahieu:

The Legislature has an important job that we’re working on, the budget, going forward. And with this last round of spending by the federal government, $1.9 trillion nationally, with over $5.7 billion coming into the state of Wisconsin, we feel that it’s important for the Legislature to have a voice in how that $3.2 billion that the governor has sole discretion over is spent. It’s very important to provide framework, sort of a roadmap as we enter the budget process going forward. Without a framework or a roadmap, we’re sort of flying blind going into the budget because we don’t know if the governor is sitting there with all kinds of federal money in his pockets. It’s going to be hard to develop a budget.

Frederica Freyberg:

Do you not think that Governor Evers is spending the federal funds in the right way?

Devin LeMahieu:

We don’t know how he’s going to spend the funds. We just simply don’t know. So we chose — the goal behind our 11-bill plan for spending this federal funds is to make sure that it’s investing in one-time items to make sure that it’s not causing a future deficit by using it for ongoing expenses and making sure we’re investing in infrastructure in the state of Wisconsin and small businesses, in families who are paying property taxes, some of the people who have been hardest hit for some of the personal relief. And also investing long-term into infrastructure so it can have long-term, lasting effects, such as broadband, local roads, things like that.

Frederica Freyberg:

There is some crossover between the governor and majority Republicans, namely on things like broadband, small business and tourism. Why not kind of work together so that you can work on this roadmap together?

Devin LeMahieu:

You know, that’s what we wanted to do. That’s why we came in last month in the Legislature and passed the Legislative Oversight Bill giving JFC passive approval over how this federal money is spent in the state of Wisconsin. Unfortunately the governor vetoed that the minute it came to his desk. It appears that the governor has no desire to include us in this process. We feel that it was important to just put that roadmap out there on how we think it should be best spent.

Frederica Freyberg:

What happens when Governor Evers vetoes the bills?

Devin LeMahieu:

Then I guess we’re starting from scratch again, and like I mentioned earlier, it makes it very tough to develop a budget. The governor has, you know, broadband spending in the budget. But we don’t know if he’s going to spend money on broadband with the federal money. So how can we put that in the budget? The governor has replacing lead pipes in Milwaukee in the budget. That was one of the provisions that we had in our bills. So if he vetoes it, and he has the ability to do it with federal money, how do we put that in the budget? That’s sort of the dilemma we’re facing as we start going through the budget process.

Frederica Freyberg:

What if some of the spending in your bills that’s not allowed under the federal bill?

Devin LeMahieu:

We don’t know that for certain at this point. There are fiscal bureau papers put out that are speculating on what the federal guidance might be. But the U.S. Treasury hasn’t issued that guidance yet. But we feel that it’s important to put those priorities out there. Hopefully the federal government gives a broader, broader — in their guidance broader use of that funds to make sure we can invest in infrastructure. Some of the bills we think for sure will be covered under this and some might not be, they might be, but we think they’re important to put those priorities out there.

Frederica Freyberg:

On a different matter but related, what’s your response to the Evers’ administration making kind of a saving construction to get the enhanced Food Share federal funding? Is that a good thing, in your mind?

Devin LeMahieu:

That was a fix that we had in AB1 that the governor vetoed, so obviously we thought that was a priority to make sure that that FoodShare ability to get the expanded federal access was going forward. There’s still probably some questions legally if the governor has the authority to do that after some of the recent Supreme Court rulings. But — so we’re checking into that. But I think it’s definitely beneficial for the state for that funding to be continued going forward. You know, apparently the Biden administration is willing to provide some pretty broad, broad interpretation of federal law to the governor in this instance and hopefully, hopefully the U.S. Treasury can provide some of that broad guidance to us as we spend federal money to make sure we know what’s best for the state of Wisconsin and the federal government may not know what’s best for the state of Wisconsin.

Frederica Freyberg:

What is your position on requiring people to get a COVID vaccine?

Devin LeMahieu:

I don’t think people should be required to get a COVID vaccine. If a private business makes that determination, I guess that’s up to the private business. But I definitely don’t think government should be mandating that individuals get a COVID vaccination.

Frederica Freyberg:

What is your message to people about getting a vaccine?

Devin LeMahieu:

You know, we’re over a year into the pandemic. People have learned a lot about the pandemic. There’s been a lot of information learned. And it’s definitely up to the individual. Hopefully a lot of people do get vaccinated to make sure we get up to that herd immunity. So I’d encourage vaccinations for all people, but I understand some people may not feel, depending on their circumstances, may not feel comfortable. But it’s great that Wisconsin is — seems to be ahead of the curve working with, you know, Walgreens and the hospital association and clinics to get the vaccines out. So that’s great for the state of Wisconsin and hopefully people continue to get vaccinated.

Frederica Freyberg:

All right. We appreciate your time. Senator LeMahieu, thanks very much.

Devin LeMahieu:

Thank you.